Irrigation tile making machine



July 30, 1940. W R, FLMlNG 2,209,726

IRRIGATION TILE MAKING MACHINE July 3o, 1940. w, R, -LEWNG 2,209,726

IRRIGATION TILE MAKING MACHINE Filed April 4, 1939 s sheets-sheet 2 1 x36 w L Y erh d A* 10 l 26 FIM. E

INVENTOR fw/@W ATTO NEY July 3o, 1940. w R FLEWG 2,209,726

IRRIGATIN TILE MAKING MACHINE Filed April 4, 1959 lNVENTOR f ATTO EY Patented July 30, 1940 vUNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE 7 Claims.

' The invention relatesto irrigation tile. or pipe .making machines, and has for its Object to provide a machine of this kind wherein a plastic pipe ...can be formed in a ditch or other place by. a forming and expressing machine which is advanced as plastic material is fed thereto and the pipe formed and expressed.

A further object is to provide the machine with a forming tube, through which a woven reinforcv 552:10 ing lining moves for reinforcing the inner periphery of the pipe. Also to provide a tapered bell for the reinforcing material for bending the -same. into tubular form as the material is fed into the bell in a flat form.

A further object is to provide means whereby the lower side of the reel, from which the at reinforcing material is fed, is maintained at a constant level with thelower side of the reinforcing lining as material is fed from the-reel.

A further object is to provide wire reels on the outershell of the device, and from which reinforcing wires are fed to a position where they will ,be imbedded in the wall of the pipe as it is formed.

.A further .object is to provide a rotatable-worm around the reinforcing feed pipe for feeding ,plastic material from the hopper tothe expressing. point.

.A further object is to support the .device from a vehicle body above a ditch, and to operate the .parts of the machine from power carried by the vehicle. Also to operate a concrete mixing machine from the vehicle power and to provide lchutemeans for conveying the mixed concrete from the mixing 4machine to the hopper of the pipe forming machine.

- A further Objectis to provide means whereby `'the .pipe forming' machinefmay move upwardlyA .and downwardly in relation to the vehicle body 310; and advance therewith, thereby allowing the pipe Y forming machine to adjust itself to uneven surfaces.

A further object is vto provide. the under side of the pipe forming machine with skids adapted to engage the ground andslide thereover as'the .machineis advanced during a pipe forming operation.

With .the above and other objects in View the invention resides in the combination and ar- 501 .rangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, vdescribed'and claimed, it being "understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the vscope of what is claimed without departing from i'the spirit of the invention.`

In the drawings: Figure` l is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the pipe forming machine showing the machine in a ditch.

. Figure 2 is a top plan lView of the pipe forming machine.

. Figureis a front elevationof the pipe forming machine Figure 4 isa rear elevation of the pipe forming 5 machine.

Figure 5 is a detail perspective View of the tapered. bell, showing the liner being bent to tubular form.

Figure 6v is a sideelevation of the liner reel supporting means, showing in full and dotted .lines how. the lower side ofthe reel material is maintained inconstant'relation to the lowerside ofthe forming bell.

Figure 7 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the formed pipe.

Figure 8. is a side elevation of a truck, showing the pipe forming machine suspended therefrom.

Figure 9 is a top plan .View of the. operating mechanism mounted .onthe truck body. :i520

The. presentk application Vsets forth improvements on my priorapplication, Ser. No. 740,305, vled August 17, 11934.

.Referring tothedrawings, the numeral l designates a motor driven .vehicle of,conventional-typegfm5 and 2 the .rearwardly extendingv body carried "thereby, which body. is vof the.A platform type. Mounted on..the..upper side of the body 2 is a rigid frame. 3,.having spaced guide rollers 4 in the upper portion thereofv and in vertical aline-30 ment with spaced guide rollers 5 carried bythe v' body l. vvertically movable between the guide rollers Land 5 are. downwardly .extending uprights '6, which extend. downwardly. into the trench or lditch Las clearly shown in Figure 89535 The lower ends of. the uprights 6 are rigidly .connected together .by means of horizontal. bars 8 so the. uprights will move upwardly and downwardlyin unison as Vthe pipe forming machine vmoves over uneven ground .in the bottom oth-,40 the ditch. The lower ends of the uprights 6 are connected at 9 .toground .engaging skids I, dis- .posed on opposite sides of the pipeforming ma-l chine.

"The pipe forming machine comprises .an outerpl shell H having a hopper I2 secured to the upper side of the 'shellin any suitable manner, and the shell and hopperare held in stationary position by means. of brace armsV I3 `connecting the hopper and the bars' 8. The shell is additionallym-O braced atits discharge end by connections l!! .to the rear standards 6. Rotatably mounted within the shell Il is a worm sleeve `i5 having-a feeding worm I6 onthe outer periphery thereof, and which 4worm feeds Vconcrete l1 from they;y hopper l2 to the discharge end I 8.I of the pipe forming machine, v.asthe .machine isadvanced nthrough-.the ditch 1. Extendingaxially through the worm sleeve -I5 is a liner receiving tube I9, the front end of which is provided with a liner forming tapered bell 2U, through which the strip of lining material 2| is fed from a flat form on the reel 22, and is bent into a cylindrical form by the tapered bell and passed through the tube I9 to the discharge end I8 to form a cylindrical woven wire lining for the pipe as the pipe is formed, and ejected from the pipe forming machine. The liner reel 22 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 23 carried by the outer ends of the upwardly and downwardly movable reel arms 24, which arms are pivotally connected at 25 to the forward uprights 6, as clearly shown in Figure 1. To insure a proper feeding of the liner strip 2| into the tapered bell 20 the lower part of the reeled material should be maintained on the same -plane as the lower side of the inner periphery of the tube I9.

To accomplish this result a forwardly and upwardly extending reel support 26 is provided and which support engages the under Side of the reeled material so the periphery of the reeled e material, as the diameter thereof varies, will be in the same horizontal plane as the bottom of the inner periphery of the tube I9. The hinged arms 24 allows downward movement of the reel 22.

The forward end of the shell l I is restricted as shown in Figure l, as well as the forward end of the worm casing I5, so the concrete will be compressed to eliminate air pockets at the discharge end and to squeeze excess moisture therefrom. The rear end of the shell, at its lower side, is provided with a rearwardly and outwardly extending shoe 21, over which the formed pipe slides for depositing the pipe on the ground as the machine is advanced through the ditch. To longitudinally reinforce the wall of the pipe,`as it is discharged from the machine, wires 29 are fed from wire spools 29 carried at spaced intervals on the outer side of the shell I I. The wires 28 extend through rearwardly converging apertures 30 in the rear end of the shell II so they will be embedded in the pipe structure, as clearly shown in Figure 1.

The worm drum I5 is rotated from a power take olf 3I of the truck I through a drive shaft r32, which drives a conventional form of change speed mechanism 33 mounted on the truck body I, which change speed mechanism in turn is provided with a driven bevelled gear 34, which meshes with a bevel gear35 through which a downwardly extending splined shaft extends. The splined shaft 36 has its lower end rotatably mounted in a bearing 31 carried by the hopper I2, and terminates in a bevelled gear ,38, which meshes with a bevelled gear 39, keyed at 40 to the forward end of the worm drum I5, therefore it will be seen that the worm drum can be controlled in speed of rotation from the truck body to regulate the speed of pipe forming operation to the speed of advancement of the truck.

Mounted on the truck body 2 is a concrete mixing machine 4I, which concrete mixing machine is driven by a drive shaft 42 through a clutch mechanism 43. The shaft 42 extends forwardly and is provided with a bevel gear 44 which meshes with a drive bevel gear 45, driven through the change speed mechanism 33, hence it will be seen that the speed of operation of the concrete mixing machine may be varied, as desired. When the concrete machine 4I is tilted for a discharge operation the concrete enters the funnel 46 and passes by gravity through the discharge pipe 41 and discharged into the hopper I2, therefore it will be seen that a constant supply of concrete to the hopper can be maintained at all times, and that the mixing machine can be operated from the same source of power as the pipe forming machine.

From the above it will be seen that a pipe forming machine is provided which is particularly adapted for forming plastic pipes, for instance the character used in irrigation ditches, and said pipe is provided with a reinforcing liner as well 10 asreinforcing wires as formed, thereby preventing collapsing of the formed pipe until the concrete sets, and at the same time bracing the pipe while in use.

The invention having been set forth what is 15 claimed as new and useful is:

1. A plastic pipe forming machine adaptedto be moved over the ground for forming a pipe as it is advanced, said machine comprising an outer shell, means for supporting said shell, a rotatable worm within the shell, means for feeding plastic material into the shell whereby the worm may discharge the same in tubular form at the rear end of the shell and means for feeding a tubular reinforcing member axially through the 25 worm for forming a lining it is formed.

2. A device as set forth in claim l wherein the liner feeding means comprises a stationary Within the pipe as tubular member extending axially through the' 30 worm, the forward end of said tubular member having a tapered entrance into which lining material is fed in a flat form and bent to tubular form as it passes through the tube.

3. The combination with a pipe forming'ma-f 85 chine comprising an outer shell, a rotatable worm Within the shell, means for feeding plastic material into the shell around the worm to be expressed in tubular form at ends thereof, means for rotating the worm, of means for providing #40 tubular lining to the pipe as formed, said means comprising a tube extending through, the worm and terminating at the discharge end thereo'f,'an upwardly and downwardly movable reel forwardy ly of the tubular member, a reel support car-51u45 ried by the forward end of the tubular member and positioned to engage material on the reel in the plane of the lower side of the inner periphery of the tubular member, and a tapered entrance carried by the forward end of the tubular.'-750 member and forming means whereby the material is bent from flat to cylindrical Vform as it enters and passes through the tubular member.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 comprising wire carrying reels mounted on the outer sidU55 of the outer shell and apertured members carried by the rear end of the outer shell and through which wire reinforcing is fed in a position where the wire will be embedded within the wall ,ofl'o the pipe as formed.

5. A device as set forth in claim 3 including a rearwardly and downwardly extending pipe supporting member carried by the rear end of the shell and terminating adjacent the ground.

6. A device as set forth in claim 1 including"T65 means carried by the rear end of the shell for feeding reinforcing wires into the wall of the pipe as it is formed.

7. A device as set forth in claim 1 including a rearwardly extending pipe supporting memberm carried by the rear end of the shell and terminating adjacent the ground.

WALTER R.IELEMING. 

